Aggieland Basketball

The Aggie fandom and spirit does not stop at football but extends to all athletic teams. Dating back forty-five years, The Battalion and the Aggieland yearbook recorded a historic year for Aggie basketball, paying significant attention to both the men’s and women’s teams. The men’s basketball team faced Texas Southern University for the first time with the game ending in an Aggie victory. While this issue of the Battalion experienced a limited number of sports photos, the publication featured a photo of this game. A decade prior, there were no African American players part of the Texas A&M men’s basketball team, by 1980 three men of color remained featured in the news article pictured below.

Directly underneath this photo in the Battalion there is a brief writeup on the women’s basketball team. The women’s team debuted in the 1974-75 season and went on to face UCLA this year. The newspaper chronicled not only the importance of this game for Aggies but included excerpts from an interview with the head coach. This provides a window into how the university’s sports have evolved over the years to reflect growth and inclusivity.

Sourced from student Aicha Colon